MANY registered nurses working in residential aged care are spending less than a third of their time caring for residents as more and more are taken off the floor to work in managerial positions.
However, the problem is also affecting all frontline workers in nursing homes, including enrolled nurses, personal care attendants (PCAs) and allied health workers, many of whom have complained of not having enough time to spend with their elderly and often frail charges.
These are some of the results from the latest Aged Care Workforce Census and Survey – and according to Ellis Blaikie from the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association they are “a big concern given that residents are entering care with more complex needs than ever before”.
The latest snapshot of the industry shows that the workforce in residential and community care has grown by 4 per cent in the past four years to more than 366,000.
However, while the residential care workforce had grown by 17 per cent to 235,000, only 5 per cent were direct care workers.
The report’s summary says the aged care workforce is “both stable and committed. Its workers report relatively high levels of job satisfaction and a large majority wish to stay working in the sector.”
But the report also shows staff dissatisfaction with pay rates, work pressures, high workloads, unanticipated changes in work patterns (including working longer than scheduled and variations being made to hours or location of work at short notice), staffing levels, increasing RN to resident ratios, the replacement of RNs with less qualified staff, few career pathways and the poor perception of aged care work by the general community.
The report says while there has been a slight increase in the number of registered nurses since 2012 (up 539 to 22,455), the percentage of RNs to the rest of the residential aged care work has decreased by 0.3 per cent since 2012 and by more than 6 per cent since 2003.
There has also been a substantial fall in the number of enrolled nurses – 15,697 down from 16,915 in 2012 – but an increase in the number of PCAs to 108,126, up from 100,312.
The census and survey was commissioned by the Department of Health.
Strategy imperative
Aged and Community Services Australia chief executive Pat Sparrow was pleased workers wanted to remain in aged care given the pressures of growth in demand and potential competition for disability workers from the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
“Aged care and disability services are two of the most important social services and it is crucial that the workforce to provide quality care and support is available for both sectors now and into the future,” she said
Ms Sparrow said developing an aged care workforce strategy was imperative to achieving a sustainable and growing workforce.
Aged and Community Services Australia is the peak body representing more than 700 aged care organisations.
‘Tragic waste of clinical skill’
Carol Williams from Elder Care Watch described the misuse of registered nurses as a “tragic waste of clinical skill and knowledge and a deskilling of health care for our elders.
“These high-skill employees represent only 15 per cent of the direct care workforce and nearly half of them spend most of their time away from patients.”
Ms Williams said the increasing proportion of PCAs relative to enrolled nurses was concerning.
“Elder Watch looks to the Senate Committee report on the aged care workforce for some strong recommendations on this disturbing picture”.
